We have been exploring leadership lessons from great conductors and how those lessons might apply to our teams, organizations,  and families. Last time, we talked about how great leaders get work done. We talked about setting clear expectations, trusting people, and being their champion. These tactics will empower your team to get work done, no question. But how do you ensure the quality of that work? How do you, as a leader, influence their commitment to do their best work?

That’s what every good conductor does every day, in every rehearsal and in every performance. I can tell you that I performed better under Wes Noble in that one long weekend than at many other times in my singing career. I don’t think I’m alone in that experience, either.  (If you’re a little confused, consider starting here.)

When I think about why that was, I see there are three lessons to be learned. Here are three ways you can help ensure that your team performs at their best. To build a high performing team, start here:

1. Give them motivation to do well.

When I was singing with Mr. Noble, I knew that I wanted to do well. Now, I know what you’re thinking. What does that have to do with the conductor? It has to do with your mindset as a leader. I’ve been around plenty of leaders in my day whose basic presumptions about their people was that they were going to fail. And those leaders created an environment where failure was nearly inevitable. (Psychologists call this a self-fulfilling prophecy. You failed because I expected you to fail.)

There’s a great scene in a movie starring Michelle Pfeiffer called Dangerous Minds. Dangerous Minds is based on the true story of LouAnne Johnson – a former Marine turned high school English teacher in the inner city of Los Angeles. In this scene, Johnson (played by Pfeiffer)  is explaining how the grading is going to work in her class. She tells the class that they all have an “A” and that all they have to do to keep that “A” is to do their best work all semester.

Now this class of misfits and under achievers don’t know how to react to this news. None of them has ever had an “A” before. And it makes all the difference in how they perform throughout the rest of the school year.

To bring out the best in your team, believe that they are capable of being their best. It will make all the difference in how you lead and it will make all the difference in how they perform.

(Click below to watch the trailer for Dangerous Minds. Sorry, it’s not in HD.)

2. Help them figure out the hard things.

We sang some of the most complicated choir literature I had attempted up to that point in my singing career. Some of it was just plain hard. We struggled to get parts of it right. We had to fight for it.

Never once did this brilliant conductor berate us or criticize us for not getting it right. In fact, I don’t recall him ever raising his voice. Instead, he helped us figure the hard things out. Consistently. Now, he did not lower his standards (more on this in the next installment). And he did not let us slack off. He never wavered in his belief that we could do it correctly. (See point #1).

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of this truth. In fact, if you remember nothing else from this blog – remember this: you must absolutely believe in the deepest part of you that your team WILL perform at their absolute best. When you are convinced of this, your coaching gets better. When your coaching gets better, your team performs. See how that works?

When we finally did well – he celebrated. He noticed.

3. Celebrate when they get it right

In our VUCA world, every success can feel like a major battle fought. Precious little is simple or requires minimal exertion from us in the way of energy, effort, or commitment in order to achieve results. I don’t care what business you’re in.

We live in days of heightened stress and even higher expectations. It is critical that you notice when your team performs well. They need to know they are exceeding your expectations. They need to know that you value what they contribute.

Singing for a man like Wes Noble, we wanted to please him. We were killing ourselves (metaphorically) to get those complicated sections right. When we got them right and he smiled and nodded and said “Yes!” or  “Good job!”, it felt absolutely amazing. It kept me wanting to do well. It drove me to do even better.

You have to notice when your team does well, and you have to tell them.

 

At the end of the day, what it takes to create a high performing team isn’t all that complex. What is difficult is the living it out. The execution. It takes discipline. It takes compassion. It takes creativity. The leaders whose teams are killing it are being consistent. If your team isn’t killing it, start with you.

And start with just one of these techniques. Today or first thing tomorrow – pick the one behavior you know you can commit to being consistent in and do it. If you’re feeling pretty good about the state of things, maybe ask your team which one they want more of and focus on that.

Start immediately. Be consistent. Then let me know how it goes. Comment on the blog or drop me a line to matt@lookdeepercoaching.com